Phillips Camping Extravaganza

We had an awesome summer full of lots of adventures. Here are some pictures of one of the first activities of summer 2012.  

We spent a day in the Uintah's with the Phillips Family.  I don't remember exactly why we decided not to camp, but I know we were glad we went up for the day.  Trips with the Phillips family are some of my fondest childhood memories, and I am certainly glad that we continue to do things with them.  

Chad and I also decided that we need to take more trips up to the Uintah's.  I don't know why we forget that it is less than an hour drive away.  It is such a wonderful place to be.  Even though on this particular day we got so dirty.  Some of us more than others.  

  

Look at all these kids-

Moab

I love Southern Utah!  Sometimes it amazes me how many people that have lived in Utah their whole life haven't been to Southern Utah.  My parents took me there almost every year when I was young, and now I am taking my kids there. While vacations, but especially camping, are an insane amount of work it is so important to me that my boys spend lots and lots and lots of time outside.

I love getting to Southern Utah when it's dark.  Sure it's a pain to put up a tent in the dark, but I love waking up in the morning to the gorgeous red rock of Southern Utah.  For me it's an excitement I equate to waking up on Christmas morning when I was a kid.  It takes my breath away.  

A couple of weekends ago we went down to Moab.  My sister was running in the Moab Half Marathon with some of her friends and she had reserved the group campsite in Archers National Park.  The campground in Arches is awesome and is surrounded by red rock that is perfect for kids to go exploring on.  My kids had so much fun

We knew there was a chance that Chad might run the 5 mile race, but it turned out there was opening for him to do the half marathon.  What?!  Chad do a half marathon?!  He runs 3.5 miles three times a week, but he hates running and his isn't particularly built for it.  However my sister and I were able to convince him to try to run the half marathon.  I told him that the worst thing that could happen would be that he would be picked up by the 'slow' bus. 

Chad amazed himself, me, and a bunch of other people when he finished the race in a decent time.  He wasn't picked up by the slow bus and he finished only ten minutes after my sister.  He didn't pass out at the finish line and although he was sore a couple of days after the race he was pleasantly surprised that he wasn't as sore as he was expecting.  

I love food trucks and saw this one in Moab and decided to try it.  It was sooooooo good!  After we got home I found out it was it's first day open.

The weather was less than ideal for the camping trip.  My sister had reserved the campsite for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night.  Everybody but my sister and her family and Chad and I and our little family bailed on Saturday.  We have been camping enough times to know that often the weather isn't ideal.  We stayed Saturday night even after the campground host told us they were expecting 60 mph winds.  And yes it was very, very windy. On Sunday when we woke up it was still windy and very cold and snow was in the forecast, we packed up and left.  We quickly packed up, while being sandblasted, and headed out just in time for it to start raining and snowing.  

We were bummed, but we weren't prepared for camping in snow.

The stars at night

Here are some of the highlights from our trip to Texas-

• Jack was so excited to fly on a plane for the first time, but after fifteen minutes into the flight he was bored. We had to change planes in Phoenix. Our flight was a bit delayed. When we were finally on the plane and waiting for everybody else to board Jack decided he wanted to open the window screen to look out the window. When he tried to lift the window screen, he ended up pulling off the whole plastic window cover. Oops. They had to delay the flight even longer while we waited for a maintenance man to repair the broken window cover.

• My aunt has a swimming pool so we got to swim every day, twice a day. The kids never got tired of it.

• It is too blasted hot in Houston, TX to do anything outside besides swim. Between our time in Texas and the road trip home, my kids watched more movies than we watch in a year. With all the swimming and all the television, it was an ideal vacation for the kids.

• We got a new-to-us car. I wanted an SUV and a minivan, but since we had to choose one, we chose an SUV. A Toyota Sequoia, for two big reasons, it fits eight people and we can tow things. The towing thing is a very important requirement in my family.

• I missed Chad, but it was fun to spend the week with my uncle, aunt, mom, sister, my kids, and nieces and nephews. With all those women around there was lots of help with the kids and meals.

• Two hours into our twenty five hour, 1500 mile drive home, Ben threw up when we arrived in Waco, TX. Fortunately nobody else threw up or peed their pants the rest of the trip home. I would say the road-trip was a success.

• At our first hotel on our way home Jack was playing with the a/c. I was down at the car at the time and when I returned my sister was standing outside our room door with all the kids. Apparently Jack turned on the heater, something inside it burned and set off the fire alarm in the room. Fortunately it didn't go off for long, but our room smelled like burnt hair.

• On the last leg of our trip we couldn't make it any further. We had been in the car for eleven hours and decided to get a hotel room in Moab, rather than push through to home. In the morning, Ben needed to go to the bathroom. The bathroom was occupied by a little girl who wasn't feeling well, so after waiting a little bit I just decided to take Ben outside to pee on a bush, the car tire or something. When we walked outside I saw two guys standing by our car where I was going to have Ben pee, so I was a little frustrated for a minute. Then I realize the two guys were Chad and my brother-in-law. They woke up early, drove down to Moab to meet us and drive us home. Wahoo!!!

• Yesterday Ben said, "It wasn't that hot in Texas." What the? Where was he?

Crazies

Last week I was talking to my brother-in-law, Jeremy. Our conversation went something like this-

Me- Hey, sorry for my crazy idea.
Jeremy- No worries. One thing I have learned about you and your sister is that I never know what you two are going to come up with next.

So, what was my idea? My sister, mom, and I are in Texas. Houston, Texas. It's like a bazillion degrees here and 110% humidity. Yes, I am exaggerating, but really, it's HOT!

Oh, I forgot to mention all the kids are with us. Our hubbies are at home living it up. Actually they have jobs to go to and projects to work on at home, but I hope they have a little fun too.

What in the world would bring us to the "land down under" (and I don't mean Australia) in the middle of the summer? We decided what kind of car we wanted to buy, and discovered they are a little cheaper in Texas. We have relatives here, so we decided to plan a little trip. That's me and my sister, anything for an adventure. (And of course a good deal.) We flew here and we have plane tickets home, but if we find a car we will be driving it home.

Until then, we will have fun in the heat. We have inundated my aunt and uncle's house with our crazy kids. I am pretty sure they are glad to have us here, but I also pretty sure they will be a little relieved when we are gone.

Consumed

*Warning-This is a post about potty training. Read on-if you wish. But don't say I didn't warn ya!

The past ten days I have been locked in the epic battle of diapers vs. big boy pants. POTTY TRAINING!

I feel like it has consumed me the past week and a half.

Potty training is one of those things you just don't want to hear about. Either you don't have kids and don't get what the big deal is. Or, you have kids and you are afraid of what is to come or you've been through it before and you'd rather not go through it again.

Potty training my first born was relatively easy. I remember there being some tears and frustration. I was afraid of causing Ben psychological harm and I didn't want to force him. I wanted to inspire him.

One technique I used was he got a treat if he went potty and I got a treat if I had to change his bum, and he had to watch me eat the treat. I never really pushed too hard and I gave up a little despite the fact that I was worried if I wasn't consistent it would cause a lot of problems. I still tried to inspire hi and three days after he turned three he decided to go potty in the big toilet and he never looked back. He didn't even have accidents. I think a couple of months after he peed his pants once or twice. And that was it, seriously!

Fast forward two and a half years and it's time to potty train my second born. I wanted to wait until he was ready, but his personality is such that he might not get there for a long time. I was going to start a couple of moths ago, but I just didn't feel good. There was plenty of excuses not to start. Jack's sick, I'm sick, we have way too much going on right now.

Two weeks ago I decided that I was going to start the following week on Tuesday. The weather was suppose to be snowy and cold so it would be good to stay home. I informed Jack of my plans. And I figured now was as good a time as any. I am pregnant, I need to pee a lot. No need to set a timer, just make him go when I need to go.

So the plan was to make him try peeing every fifteen minutes and then extend the interval throughout the day with a reward of a small gum ball for #1 and a big gum ball for #2. Tuesday did not go well.

So Tuesday night I ran to the library and picked up a book. Toilet Train in Less Than a Day. Thanks Brooke!!! I'd heard of it before and thought it sound cRaZy. But desperate times call for desperate measures. I went and bought a peeing doll, which didn't work so well, so I ran to the DI and found a better one. Tuesday night I read the book. Wednesday morning the battle began.

Do I recommend the book? YES! Does it make potty training easy? NO, POTTY TRAINING SUCKS!!!! And as for the claim, "toilet train in less than a day?" Crazy! But it was more like "get the concept in a day and then learn from the accidents. But now that I look back on last week. Jack hasn't had a pee accident since that day and he hasn't even peed at night. So, I guess it worked.

Wednesday morning it took 32 ounces of liquid before Jack peed. That kid truly does have a bladder of steel. I was worried he was going to explode before he peed. Wednesday was a long day. That night we were eating dinner and I just started crying because the day had been sooooo overwhelming. I went in my room and cried for 15 minutes.

So since last week we have been waiting for Jack to take care of his "serious business" in the toilet. Three accidents and very vigilantly watching him, by Sunday night we were able to have a potty party complete with lemonade and brownies shaped like logs. (Kidding on the treats, we had cupcakes and ice cream and we celebrated with my sisters family. They kindly decorated for the party for us with balloons and yellow and brown streamers.) Tonight was the first night he took care of his "serious business" on his own. Meaning he went when he needed to go. Twice. Wahoo!

I guess if anything potty training is a reminder that although parenting is mind numbingly, knock your socks off difficult - It could always be worse.